Design Evolved Community Forum

i just finished my own VS for vista called transblack
http://invaderjohn.deviantart.com/art/Tr...1-82914600

and now i thought to make a wlm skin to work with it

heres a mockup iof what i though could be cool

http://www.pici.se/248660/

the image was made rly quick from a screenshot of my wlm
that was heavy patched with a-patch

so my question is.. is that possible to make?

or can anyone at least tell me how to change the background color and text color on wlm that would help alot. and icons

That would be possible.

By the way nice VS, i think its one of the best msstyles for vista at the moment so good work (although the inactive windows are a bit hard to read and it would be cool to have inactive window buttons but meh).

What I would do is wait for my open source skin to be released. That will allow people to make WLM skins a lot easier and I'm sure you would be able to easily whip something up since you already have a bit of experience with visual styles.

If you can't be bothered making it, then I might consider picking it (maybe depending on how busy I am).

oh ok sounds great. i would love for that to happen. cuz i really want something small and simple.. and i love msn so i dont want to use miranda!

oh thx alot. been working rly hard on that, and im working on V.2 now

the inaktiv window dont have buttons cuz that was ment to be
i love minimalistic stuff so.. dont want unnecessary stuff, and about the text.. well black was what looked best. if it was lighter u didnt see it well at all and i didnt want it to be white cuz the aktiv was.
i know i could make it lots better.. but ppl wanted it wuick and i didnt have that much time cuz i didnt have anyone to help me. and cuz i just started to make VS so had to learn at the same time i made it ^^

but it seems to get rly popular som im glad


about the WLM skin, the images and stuff its rly easy to do so i could do ehm quickly. i would just need some help put it 2gether cuz i dont know how xD ive tried a lil with retorator today but didnt work.
when i restarted wlm it kinda re-installed itself.

but yeah.. if u could help me out it would be great. and i think ppl would like it to fit the VS ^^

You've said you were working with a heavily patched WLM. In skinning that is a one-way ticket to trouble. A lot of patches dabble with the UIFiles and that means some elements are changed, in different places or simply not there at all. We suggest you uninstall the patches and re-extract WLM's resources to ensure you (and perhaps WLM ) don't get confused.

Yeah working on a patched Windows Live Messenger is only asking for trouble, since in order for the skin to work on someone else's WLM they need to apply the same patch settings as you or it will just fail miserably

oh ok well then i know.
but is it possible to have those options myself?
to like remove everything i allready done then?
cuz i rly like it that clean and dont have lots of stuff u dont rly need

and i know there are some msg plus skins that work with a-patch, like the osX skin and.. ehm some more.

but if i make a good mockup, with both the top header and without.
could u guys think of helping me out?

yeah you can code any setting a patch has (excluding certain hex edits).

What I suggest you do is make a proper mock up as to how you think the skin will look, so draw up everything (buttons, scrollbars etc) and plan it all out. Then I can give you input as to how possible it all is, what parts will be tricky or not possible etc.

I am still working on my open source skin and after that I got another two projects waiting for me, but I can still guide you into making it if you need it.

Anyway yeah thats about as much as I can help at the moment.

oh ok yes i will do that asap
and thats kinda the only thing i need.
just to know where and what i have to change

cuz im allready known to hex/res editing

so just a lil guide/tutorial would be awesome.
but il be bcack as soon as im ready with the mockup


EDIT: ok ive been working a lil on the mockup today

this so what i came up with (ok i know the images isnt the best)

http://www.pici.se/251129/

what u think willz?
any suggestions?
and is it possible?

so far, yes it is entirely possible, though the scrollbar on the left image will not go that high, it can only ever go as high as the actual contact list starts and ends. The only other limitation is anti-aliasing, since window masks are only 2 color images you can't get smooth edges like that for the window.

One thing I would suggest, if you want a version where the dashboard is removed then at least add a menu button next to minimize maximize and close, that way people can still access it without having to expand the frame.

But asides from that so far so good. By the way I should also point out that hex edits aren't possible in a Messenger Plus skin, whilst some can be simulated through skinning techniques, others can't be (e.g Nudge limit removal). So there will be some things that you can't do I'm afraid.

oh ok. well yeah u know best. that was just something kinda what i want.. in that colors and such.

its not any possibility u could guide me then?
or give me like a tutorial?
how to start and what images i have to change

maybe i could add u on msn?
u rly dont have to do anything i think.. just guide me a lil
cuz i rly cant find anything about making a skin
so i dont know where to beggin.

would be awesome ^^
ive showed the mockup for some friends and theres alot who would like it.